Gameday Post #5: Yankees at Baltimore Orioles

The Yankees are now in the win column! Ivan Nova came out and played the role of stopper as he led New York to a 6-2 victory over the Orioles last night. Fresh off a rather rough spring training, Nova showed everyone that he’s the same pitcher that won 16 games a year ago, going seven innings and allowing two earned runs. He also struck out 7 batters and didn’t allow a walk. The offense did some good damage against Brian Matusz, with Derek Jeter’s 4-for-4 night leading the charge. Andruw Jones chipped in his first HR of the season starting in place of Brett Gardner, who entered as a defensive replacement shortly after the home run. Birthday boy David Robertson and the incomparable Mariano Rivera finished off the Orioles with back-to-back scoreless innings to notch the first win of the season.

Freddy Garcia is set to take the ball in the second game of this three-game set. He’ll be countered by Wei-Yin Chen, who will be making his major-league debut out of Taiwan.

Freddy Garcia (NYY) — Garcia clinched a spot in the rotation when Michael Pineda was placed on the DL with a shoulder injury, but a strong spring had the team debating carrying Garcia anyway. The soft-tosser was 2-0 with a 4.35 ERA in four starts vs. the O’s last year.

Wei-Yin Chen (BAL) — The 26-year-old southpaw from Taiwan will be making his Major League debut against the division-rival Yankees. Chen was 2-2 with a 3.60 ERA in five starts this spring.